Vanilla Bean Gelato with Honey, Olive Oil, & Citrus
Ok guys, this one is a WINNER!
Super easy, Instagram-worthy, and delicious? Yes please!
This dessert is so fun to make and it is absolutely stunning. It’s so pretty I didn’t even know if I should eat it! Seriously, we all stood around my kitchen island in awe of it.
I served this at a dinner party and to add a little excitement I made this an activity-driven dessert. I arranged the cut oranges and grapefruit segments on my cutting board and passed out shallow dessert bowls. I had my guests arrange the citrus in their own bowl and passed around the flaky Maldon sea salt so that everyone could use as much or as little as they liked. Then I drizzled everyone’s bowls with olive oil and honey and I had everyone scoop their own Vanilla Bean Gelato so they could take however much they wanted. Most of the men went for two scoops (surprise, surprise).
I love to surprise my guests and using olive oil on top of this dessert definitely does that! It was so funny to see their faces when I pulled the olive oil out– like “girl, are you crazy?” But trust me, the blend of honey and olive oil creates an unexpected blend of flavors, everyone was a fan once they tried it!
Read on to learn to make this low stress high success dessert!
What you need:
- Serves Four -
2 blood oranges*
2 navel oranges*
1 pink grapefruit*
1 Tbsp. flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
About 4 tsp. of extra-virgin olive oil (this one is my go-to!)
About 2 Tbsp. honey
1pint Vanilla Gelato, such as Talenti Madagascan Vanilla Bean Gelato
* I bought extra citrus just in case. Sometimes one can be bad or it doesn’t cut nicely and you won’t know until it’s too late!
Here’s How:
First you’re gonna want to peel your citrus. Grab a large knife and cut off the top and bottom and stand it up on your board.
Carefully cut between the flesh and the pith of your citrus, following the curvature of the fruit. Discard the peel.
Now you should be left with a beautiful, delicate treat!
Slice into rounds then quickly pull the inner pith from the center.
When you’re done you should find yourself with a beautiful mess like this! Discard the peels and tops then place your finished rounds in a bowl and set aside.
For your grapefruit, you are going to trim it the same way as the orange but then you’re going to want to segment it. You’ll need a paring knife for this. If you don’t know how, see below for my video which will show you the process.
Cobi Quick Tip: If you are making this for a party, do these steps in the morning and store your citrus in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Just remember to take the slices out at least thirty minutes before you serve so they aren’t fridge-cold.
And Voila! That’s it. Now you’re ready to assemble this show stopping dessert!
Assemble your citrus slices into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. I like a lot but adjust to your taste, remembering you can ALWAYS add more but you can’t take it away.
Drizzle with olive oil and honey.
Cobi Quick Tip: I put my olive oil in a squeeze bottle* so I could get a lovely, thin stream which makes for prettier plating and ease of use. Same goes for the honey, I went for the kind in a squeeze bottle which made it so much easier. Who needs a sticky honey mess?
*I love this one. It works really well and you’ll never lose the top! I have the set because these are always, always handy. Keep a salad dressing or homemade sauce fresh in the fridge or like in this recipe– it’s perfect to have on hand for plating anything that needs a nice drizzle!
Top with a scoop of gelato…
… and enjoy!
Yum! I hope you love it as much as we did. Tell me what you think in the comments!
All my love, Cobi
Recipe inspired by Giada de Laurentis. Original here.
*This article contains Amazon links to products I use and love! As an Amazon Affiliate, these links mean if you purchase through me I receive a small commission. Thank you for your kind support.
